I suspect I was underwhelmed by The Catcher in the Rye because I read it when I was in my thirties instead of in my teens. Thus I'd already read many Catcher wannabes and the original wasn't all that original anymore. The experience was lost on me. Really. Didn't Holden just whine a lot?
GOOD Magazine has a lovely short essay on why it's time for schools to give up on Catcher. The author, Anne Trubek, includes a revised syllabus that includes a couple of YA favorites. Be sure to read the comments.
Link from Blog of a Bookslut.
Sacrilege! Catcher in the Rye is my favorite book.
ReplyDeleteI first read it when I was 14 and I felt like Holden was my long-lost twin-- except for Holden being a lot wealthier than me, living on the oppostite coast, being male, and being fictional. I, like Holden, hated phoniness when I was a teen, and I still do. I've read the book about ten times over the years, and it has held up for me well.
Did you read the comments to the article? Many people disagree with the author.
I've read many of the books that have been compared to Catcher in the Rye, and found none quite as good.
I did read the comments. The author of the essay definitely wasn't getting much support from readers on any point.
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